"Sovereign Bonds"? Definition

Many DR1 financial & social news stories refer to "sovereign bonds". How are sovereign bonds different from normal bonds, issued in past years by the Dominican national government? In the USA, bonds issued by a state or the national government usually have the "full faith & credit" of the state or federal government. This phrase is from the American Constitution. It indicates that the governmental unit is completely financially responsible for paying all principal & interest to all bond holders. Are "sovereign bonds" different? How? I've never encountered this phrase in the USA nor in periodicals dealing with USA nor international bond markets. Thank you.

[sjh]

from http://www.debttraders.com/bond_investing.cfm


Government bond
Bonds can be issued by a government or government agency. Government bonds are often referred to as sovereign bonds, examples of which are the Kingdom of Thailand bonds, Malaysia bonds and U.S. Government bonds (also known as Treasuries as they are issued by the U.S. Treasury). Within the sovereign category are quasi-sovereign bonds, which are securities issued by entities supported by the sovereign. An example of a quasi-sovereign bond issuer is Petroliam Nasional Berhad, the government owned national oil and gas company of Malaysia.